KUALA LUMPUR — National men’s hockey head coach, Arul Selvaraj, believes that his squad needs to improve on the technical aspects of their game if they hope to clinch the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Despite the Speedy Tigers’ emphatic victory against Oman in their second group match today, Arul said that he expects his charges to learn from a few minor mistakes and work on them before their final group match.
“We need to work a lot on improving our flicks and the way we drive the ball.
“Our team really needs to work harder on this to guarantee our spot in the semifinals,” Arul said.
Arul said that he was impressed with the high number of goals scored by his team in the last two games and hopes they continue their goal-scoring form for the rest of the tournament.
“Another back-to-back victory for us, and I’m really pleased with the number of goals that we have scored in both matches.
“We currently lead the group with a high number of goals scored, and it’s good to see us scoring all types of goals, especially through penalty corners and penalty strokes,” Arul said.
Malaysia defeated Oman 11-1 in their Pool B match at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park hockey stadium today.
This came on the back of a 9-0 victory over Thailand on Sunday.
Malaysia scored through Razie Rahim (third and 11th minutes), Ashran Hamsani (14th), Shello Silverius (18th), Faizal Saari (26th), Azrai Aizad Kamal (29th), Ashran Hamsani (30th), Najmi Farizal Jazlan (34th), Ashran Hamsani (35th), Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (36th), and Faizal Saari (39th).
Fahad Lawati replied for Oman in the 23rd minute.
The Speedy Tigers currently lead Pool B with a 19-goal difference and are expected to defeat the 60th-ranked Indonesia in their next match on Thursday.
In a Group A match, the world’s number 3 ranked India trashed Singapore 16-1 following a 16-0 win over Uzbekistan.
The top two teams from Pool A and Pool B will battle in the semifinals.
The winners of the hockey tournament at this year’s Asian Games will qualify directly for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. — September 26, 2023.